Tag Archives: novels

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

“And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.”


“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

It has been a very, very long time (too long?) since a book has affected me in the way that The Perks of Being a Wallflower has. I’m talking spending the whole day being teary-eyed and openly crying on the train home affected. Granted, I was menstruating that day and juggling with some work stress and new relationship stress, too, but even if my emotions hadn’t already been in a messy bundle, I know Stephen Chbosky’s tale of a distant, passive youth in the ’90s would have hit hard. I wish I had discovered this book a little over a decade ago in my own high school years. It’s absolutely incredible.

Charlie is about to enter high school after losing his best (and possibly only) friend to suicide last year, and he tells his story via letters to a stranger he is writing to be “she said you listen and understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have.” He doesn’t want this person to try to figure out who he is or to write back or anything; he just wants someone to write to and tell his story, a story that involves a blossoming friendship with siblings Patrick and Sam, which leads him down a fascinating road of sex, drugs, and Rocky Horror Picture Show. It leads him to discover who he is, what he has been, and who he will be. It’s the story of a wallflower, someone who observes and lets life pass them by, and how to discover when to start to participate.

Written in a voice that is clear and concise, innocent and deep and naive and observant all at once, Perks is a truly beautiful book, a beautiful story with a beautiful main character. There were some parts that I wish there would have been a little bit more of (the disappointment I felt at the discovery that I was not being handed, finally, a very incredibly impressive male bisexual character in literature still makes me sigh), but there were so many things right about it that those little details don’t sting too much. Because, even if I would have done things a little differently, there’s no denying that this is Chbosky’s character through and through and I can’t begrudge him for staying incredibly true to Charlie.

If you haven’t read this book, it comes to me highly recommended as an excellent slice of young adult fiction that I expect I’ll be revisiting annually.

Books read: 009/100.

Review: Renaissance in Japan.

“…it is, indeed, the art of ellipsis, or of suggestion,–the incredible technique of impressing the inexpressible by non-expression of an impression.”

“Renaissance in Japan: A Cultural Survey of the Seventeenth Century, Japan’s Literary Giants: Basho, Saikaku, Chikamatsu” by Kenneth P. Kirkwood

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a bibliophile. I can’t borrow books, because I only want to keep them and never give them back. And I’m a huge fan of finding random old books in thrift stores or book carts and taking them home with me. Renaissance in Japan is one of those books, a “cultural survey” did back in 1970 that I found in some random old shop for just two bucks. More than likely, I was probably in my big Nipponophile phase, which never has completely gone away, but has easily been trumped by Chinese history and adoration of all things late Nineteenth Century. Either way, I definitely wanted this book, and I finally got around to reading about it.

It was great to read about art movements in the world that, really, I knew very little about. What I found to be the most fascinating aspect of Kirkwood’s look at Japanese literature in the 17th century were the parallels he drew between what was going on in Europe at the same time. It’s something I’ve never given much thought, especially since, while Europe was exploring and creating empires, Japan was closing in on itself and wanting nothing to do with all of that business. Yet, trends in poetry and novels and the theater seemed to surface in both places at relatively the same time. Very interesting, something I’d love to try to dissect if I should ever have enough time. I was also really interested in the fact that, this is an older book, and it’s always interesting to get a perspective from a different time, as well. I found Kirkwood’s approach to be pleasantly unbiased and professional.

Either way, Renaissance in Japan is a great look at three very powerful and influential writers who influenced a great deal of Japan’s culture as they moved toward modernity. Definitely check it out if you’re feeling particularly scholarly.

Books read: 007/100.

Faster, Pussycat, Kill, Kill!

Quite often, especially lately, especially in the insanity that is being upper management for retail during the hoilday season, I find myself wishing on thing more than others. I wish I could be a faster writer.

At the start of this year, when I really started to cling to the idea of self-publishing and really dive right in, my goal was to publish two books. With the idea of a collection of short stories to begin with, I was on a good, strong path, having published Bowlful of Bunnies about halfway through the year. I had several books in the works, and one was nearly halfway done, so it seemed like it would all fall into place that I might be able to finish a draft by November and get things edited and published before December 31st, easy peasy.

…mmm, well, turns out, not so much. I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m sitting here at the start of December with no second book in sight. Bowlful of Bunnies is the amalgamation of stories from as far back as eight years ago (though there was some new stuff in there, too); I’ve been working Serpent in a Cage for nearly ten years. I’ve started and restarted and restarted again too many books to count. Though I certainly have the imagination to think of several new books a year, I do not have the writing prowess to write several new books a year.

Nothing’s wrong with that, of course. Some people just aren’t quick writers. I still published a book this year. I’m going to shoot for two again next year, but if I’m just a book a year kind of author, that okay. The slightly frustrating part for me is just that I have so many books inside my head, but they come out at a snail’s pace and it’s all going to bottle-neck pretty soon here…

What are some of your tips, if you have any, for more speedy word wrangling? Are you a speedy writer, or a more languid wordsmith? When do you feel the words really fly for you, or do just let it go with the turtle-paced flow more often than not?

Either way, I have two days off right now, so here’s top hoping maybe I can push it a little bit further past my usual page-a-day. Wish me luck, and happy writing!

The Second Asyentai: Let’s Get Political.

Last night, I realized that I’ve been reading an awful lot of political fantasy lately. I’ve got Melanie Rawn’s The Ruins of Ambrai for one, Terry Pratchett’s The Truth for another, and, most influential of all, George R. R. Martin’s A Feast for Crows, which is easily the most political of the Song of Ice and Fire books so far, as the game is changing and everyone’s rearranging their pieces, so to speak. Naturally, being the little writerly magpie that I am, my brain shifted gears and I seized the chance to start up my own political fantasy that I have been developing for a while but have yet to really attempt to put into paper.

Of course, my current Aryneth WIP, Serpent in a Cage, is a little bit political, but that series doesn’t really get to the level of ASoIaF until the later books. I wanted something with conflicting factions and convultuted internal plotting now, so I stepped a little further back in Arynethian history to the Second Asyentai (Locke and Auferrix and crew are the Third Asyentai). These are the unsuspecting chosen ones that were lead on a fate that caused them to bring about the Sealing of the Gods from the world, thus creating a period of turmoil and chaos until we pick things back up a couple thousand years later in SiaC. Sweet Bianca, revolutionary Launce, fierce Katarina, playful Tigaren, serene Seo, and an admittedly unnamed Apylo who we’ll just call mysterious wind up being thrown together as the worlds they knew dissolves around them and they change the entire fate of the planet in the meantime. Much like a ASoIaF book, the narratives will switch between these six strangers as their stories mesh and meld in a big net of intrigue, religion, and maybe even a little romance.

So, please to enjoy the following excerpt, the first page of the new project written last night. I’m really enjoying the tone and the approach so far, so thought on what you think and if you’re eager to see more would be appreciated:

         With her heart heavy and her shoulders sagging, the princess laid the rose down on the glossy surface of the closed casket. Her rose was to be the first of many, and she drew her hand back slowly, wishing to let her fingers linger but for the thorns. She dropped her hand, as well as her head, and sniffled back her tears. Another hand fell on her shoulder and squeeze.
         “Bianca.”
         Startled, she jumped, blinking into the realization that she was not standing over her father’s corpse but was sitting in a rumbling carriage with squeaking wheels instead. The hand on her shoulder belonged to her cousin, Ewyn, who leaned forward to smile at her and pointed her attention out the window. “Look. What a beautiful sunset.”
         The transition from dreams and memory to stark reality was jarring, causing her to stare blankly at Ewyn’s handsome face before she could turn her head away. A deep, angry blush heated her skin, and she hoped no one could notice it in the darkening cabin. It was little wonder they all thought her to be slow and a little bit stupid; they couldn’t truly understand how her thoughts plagued and distracted her constantly. She stared out the window without seeing anything, tightening a fist in her lap.
         “Sunset,” she noted mildly, frowning, the expression knotting in her eyebrows. “So soon? It will be practically midnight by the time we arrive.”
         “The innkeepers will still be most receptive all the same,” Ewyn assured her complacently, “have no worries. The road to Cenmich is long and the proprietors of the Golden Light are accustomed to welcoming their important guests at strange hours due to the journey. They will be pleased to welcome us, Birdie.”
         “I would be pleased not to trouble them,” Bianca stated, frowning at her cousin now in a light attempt to convince him. But she knew that she had lost all respect and conviction the moment someone called her by that little pet name. “If we keep on, we can reach Cenmich by morning all the same.”
         “Wouldn’t it be better to let the horses rest a while?” In the red twilight, Ewyn’s smile was condescending and, she thought, perhaps a little predatory. “That way, everyone will arrive in the village refreshed and ready. It would leave a dismal impression should we present ourselves road-worn and weary, Birdie.”

Not much, as I said, about a page, but I’m intending to compose much more today. I’ve got a good feeling about this one, so here’s to hoping for a steady drive as I continue it! Wish me luck!

The Chronicles of the Missing Notebook.

So, an interesting thing happened two nights ago, as I sat down and went to type up my “at least a page” of Serpent in a Cage. I was typing away, frowning a little to myself because things weren’t panning out as I thought they had. At first, I chalked it up to that distance one gets between drafts, when the details need a lot of attention and hemming so that they fit in with the rest of the piece better. As some of you know, this version of SiaC I’m working on is actually the third draft. I had the first draft that I finished sometime in 2007 (I think), and then I was rewriting it in an attempt to revisit it. Then I decided toward the end of that draft that things weren’t working right and I scrapped the entire thing and started putting the pieces of the plot together in a different way, one that worked much better, made more sense, and was generally more enjoyable and better crafted. The evolution of this book has been astounding, and I’m pretty sure there’s more evolving ahead, too.

I’ll be honest, though; I was troubled. Anyone who follows this blog has a good idea of how important SiaC is…it’s the opening act of an opus I’ve been crafting for over a decade. Yes, as I was transcribing the draft, things didn’t seem right. Here I had restructured the whole thing to avoid the wavering plot from collapsing, and yet I was getting those same feelings that made me stop with the second draft. What was happening? Did I need to reconsider and restructure the plot yet again, as the opening was struggling to reach the pitch that I thought I had accomplished in the rewrite?

And then a thought hit me: was this the rewrite?

Cue frantic flipping through the pages, hoping to find a part that I knew for certain was cut or completely changed. I find the evidence and realize that this whole time, more than 20,000 into transcribing it, I was working with the second draft the whole time.

And then another thought hit me: wait. Where’s the third draft???

Cue frantic scavenging through the library, which is currently still covered in strewn-about notebooks as though some literary hurricane swept through. My heart sank to the bottom of my toes as I realized I had located all of the little notebooks I used for that draft to discover that none of them contained the rewrite. It was gone. I couldn’t find it anywhere. Maybe it was elsewhere, but, right then, I had to bolster myself for the hard truth that Serpent in a Cage might have to find itself facing a fourth draft, and this one relatively from scratch as I wanted to follow the new plotline, not the old.

Maybe I knew things would work out well, or that I’d eventually find it, because I didn’t feel too stressed about it. Maybe it just hadn’t registered yet. But when I sat down at my computer and looked over and saw two other notebooks I had previous forgotten about because they weren’t in the library, my heart leaped. I reached for one, flipped it open, and let out a relieved sigh to discover those familiar words of the third draft staring back at me. The clouds broke and sunbeams burst down, despite it being night time by then, and the angels were a-singing. Hallelujah!

I only have to retype 20,000 words to be back where I was…

…Ahhhh, writing.

Considering the third draft is in tact and I don’t have to completely rewrite it, things turned out well, but it was definitely one of those moments that encapsulates, for me, what a weird profession this is. Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? Or other similar stories about missing drafts, working on the wrong thing for a certain amount of time, or just plain stupid things while writing?

I have to say, one happy side-effect of this whole adventure is that I”m even more excited to get to the actual transcribing now, with the scrapped second draft so fresh in my head! Wish me luck!

And don’t forget! There are three more days left for submitting your poems and stories to my autumn anthology! Will I receive enough to publish them? Time will tell! Get those submissions in!

RoW80 Check-In: More Like a Catch-Up.

“‘I smell Ssark on the wind,” Tayahyla said, her face made of stone. ‘That reek is unmistakeable, a hunting party, though a small one. Still, we’d better move quickly before they start taking to the idea of Human flesh to break their fast.’”

As you may have realized, not only did I skipp Sunday’s Round of Words in 80 Days post, but I’ve also missed a few regular days of posting in between. Sometimes, it happens. Sometimes, it happens especially because a person’s life is so busy she barely has time to do anything else except what’s going on. There’s been socialization. There’s been print copies to review. There’s been a trip to Michigan to plan. There’s been a lot of stuff at work. Oh, yeah, and there was a Labyrinth party.

Needless to say, I’ve been pretty busy. RoW80 is the writing challenge that “knows you have a life,” and that’s definitely become evident these past few weeks for me. So particular goals have gone right out the window, and I’ve been working more on vague projects instead. Here’s a look at what I’ve got going on and, once things settle a little, will have coming up:

-Serpent in a Cage: I’m plugging along at SiaC as usual. I’m just heading into a battle scene, which moves things along nicely, but shortly after this is another battle scene, and then that leads us into the BIG battle scene, and I wonder if it’s almost too much action. There’s stuff happening in between, though, so I guess I’ll see when it’s written! Since my trip requires a six hour train ride, I’m hoping to really blow through the rest of this chapter later today when there’s little else to do but watch the scenery fly by.

-Bowlful of Bunnies: The second print proof for BoB came in yesterday and it is perfect, so I’m estatic and excited and wish I had more time to sit down and actually formulate a marketing approach for it, but I’ve had no such time. I know I want to do some contests, maybe a give-away, that sort of thing, so planning that is on the agenda for my little “retreat,” too. It’s currently available at the CreateSpace store here for $5.99 USD, with eventual Amazon listing to follow in a few days. It looks phenomenal. I couldn’t be happier. And I’ll bet you’d be hard pressed to find cuter page markings than these ones, too.

-Potential Anthology: In a conversation with my roommate, the subject of a special, brief Halloween horror anthology came up briefly, and I’ve been toying with the idea of making it a contest instead of just a collection of whatever I could clomp together before October 31st. I still need to hash out a few details, but I would love to know if this would be something anyone would be interested in. You could submit whatever, there’d likely be a Kindle and print version, and there may be daily or occasional prompts for inspiration, ala the contest Morgan Dragonwillow ran not too long ago that had left me so inspired. Thoughts would be appreciated! If I decide to go for it, I’ll likely have more information available next week.

Those are the main three writerly things that have been occupying my mind in the (very) rare moments lately when I have time. Even today is jam packed with stuff (laundry! cleaning the cat box! job interview! packing! get to the train station on time!), but I’ve made myself take some time to do a little scribbling and a little reading, because I’ve missed the chance to do that and I’m so looking forward to this train ride at four so that I can do nothing but just sit and relax. Ahhhhh.

Still, I won’t complain. It’s been an awesome last few weeks, and I definitely can’t gripe about a day that includes the arrival of a perfect print proof and a phone call I’ve been waiting about for an interview for a promotion, with a brief little “mini-vacation” to follow. Life’s pretty good right now. A whirlwind, but I’m willing to let it sweep me up.

Needless to say, I haven’t been able to keep up with my fellow RoWers lately (though you can do so easily here). How is everyone else doing? Are you planning to get in some Happy Writing?

RoW80 Check-In: What Happened to the Weekend?

“     ‘We’re paying you to care about rescuing the girl,’ Estialog stated simply. ‘What happens afterwards is categorically none of your business.’
     ‘And if we have a moral concern?’
     Tayahyla snorted again, but held back comment. ‘An odd bunch of brigands,’ Estialog murmured, ‘to be concerned with morality.’
     ‘We never claimed to be typical.’”

As I was writing the title of this Wednesday’s Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, I’m thinking to myself, “But, L, it’s Wednesday. You’re halfway to the next weekend already.” And that just really highlights how busy last weekend has felt, in the fact that my brain is still back there on Sunday or something, while time rushes on through to the next weekend.

I’m used to the weekends being busy and a little crazy; it’s par for the course when you work in retail, and it’s usually the weekdays that mean relaxation, especially the earlier, mid-week days that aren’t so hot for shopping. There’s a lot of crazy, exciting things going on where I work, so everything’s in a whirlwind, things are really crazy, and I was really looking forward to spend today getting back in touch with my writing, and then a coworker asks if I can cover for her tonight. Sigh. This means working six days this week, including one day for 9 hours in an 11 hour span (I got a 2 hour break in between, half of which was driving between locations). I want to shake my fists and just yell “ARRRGGGH,” but I know that this is just the start. There’s a good chance things will get crazier, so I’m bracing myself.

And using all the wonderful writing and reading to keep myself centered and Zen. Everyone’s been noting how I really seem in control of my shit lately, and I intend to keep in control and ride through the chaos like an unfappable breeze of serenity. And I think it’s my writing and the fact that, no matter what happens with my Day Job, things are happening with my Dream Job, too, and that’s just incredible.

The print proof for Bowlful of Bunnies arrived the other day, which is such a trip. I took it to work and showed it off to everyone, too, but I think I want a much smaller size, so today I’m reformatting and resubmitting it for review. Part of my brain wanted to just go with what I have now, but then I had to remind myself that patience is a virtue. While it would be exciting to start shilling this print version now, it’s much better to make sure it’s exactly what I want it to be before I let it out in the world. CreateSpace was incredibly fast…much quicker than they had projected…so I doubt I’d have to wait too long again. Plus, the excitement gets me in a fabulous mood, and, whenever I start to get irritated, all I have to do is think about how, in a few days, I’ll have a print proof of my potential book that people without Kindles can actually buy, whaaaaaat?

I’ve been plugging along with Serpent in a Cage, too, finally getting to the point where I think the dragging middle expositionary section gets back into the action again, which should pick things up. I played around with the idea of bringing in Tayahyla as a narrator again, but I think three is enough for now. Her story can be told better in the next book. I’m also poking at Soulless, the haunted house, and the western with dragons a little bit, too, and wondering if I should skip NaNoWriMo this year or go for it. There’s still time, I must remind myself. People are already talking about it, though, which gets me flailing slightly. I have trouble refusing a challenge when it’s presented, yet maybe I should force myself to show some restraint. We shall have to see.

I’ve still got those book reviews to do (I’ve realized that I’ve been putting them off because I don’t particularly like doing negative reviews, and these ones are not glowing, no), but, other than that, all my attention has been mostly on BoB and SiaC and this craziness that is my life lately. Next week, I might be taking what I’m going to call a brief “writer’s retreat” for a few days, and that should definitely help me anchor my center through the chaos…and allow me some uninterrupted, undistracted chunks of time for writing!

How everyone else doing? Did you get a chance to check out any other RoWers today? (If not, you can find them here!) I’m off to do more formatting and reading and scribbling.

Happy writing!

RoW80 Check-In: The Waiting Game.

“Locke grunted, trying to hold down his irritation. ‘Men lie, Majani,’ he said, ‘and quite often, and that’s why I ask. You didn’t honestly believe us to just blindly follow anyone with enough gold into caves and secret dungeons, do you?’”

I wasn’t sure if I was going to pull off a check-in post today, but, thanks to an agreement that has me working all day tomorrow, I was released from work early today and could have enough time to pen this after all. It’s not going to be much of an update, a little quick and dirty, but things have been going really, really well. Not so much with my Round of Words in 80 Days goals, but with life in general. And I’ve strayed a bit from the goals, but other accomplishments have surfaced, which makes me feel a little better about it. Especially since the whole point of RoW80 is the flexibility.

I’ve been doing really, really well with a-page-a-day on Serpent in a Cage, although I feel this chapter is kind of a hot mess. I’m just going to keep plugging along. This is the boring travel chapter, where I have to rely on character interactions to carry it, and I don’t think I’m doing as well as I could be with that. However, that’s what edits are for, right?

I started transcribing what I have for SiaC‘s sequel, too, and, oh man, is it bad! It’s almost kind of funny. It was last year’s NaNo, so, when I was writing it, it was all about word count. SiaC is still my main focus between the two, obviously, but I’m really going to have to roll up my sleeves when I get to cracking down on this one.

But the real catch in my recent progress is that pesky song of the Muse. Sometimes, I feel like I have practically no attention span at all, but my Muse makes me feel like I’ve got the focus of a GOD. Lately, two of my previous WIPs (Soulless with the zombie dystopian world and the one with the super haunted house) have been calling to me, and, not wanting to ignore them, I’ve embraced them with a little bit of scribbling here and there, too. Now, I know I’ve talked a lot about how I was going to push back the fear of finishing Serpent in a Cage, but a part of me still feels, “Maybe not yet…” So if either of these WIPs continue to demand my attention, I might switch my focus again, but we shall see.

I’ve also got two book reviews that I’ve been lazy about writing, and another one to come up shortly, too, so the reading’s going well, too.

And the most exciting news of all?

The print proof for Bowlful of Bunnies should arrive sometime this week. Wait. Did I say print proof? I do believe I did! I’ve finally hopped on over to CreateSpace to give their program a try, and so far, I am incredibly impressed…as well as completely flabbergasted by how incredibly easy it was! Granted, I haven’t gotten the print yet, so I don’t yet know how it’s going to work out, but if it does….having a print version of BoB is going to open a lot of doors. I have a lot of exciting things planned, and I can’t wait to get them started. Definitely stay tuned!

And, in the meantime, why don’t you hop on over here and visit my fellow RoWers? You’ll be glad you did.

Happy writing!

Character Interview: Locke Mandrake Battarack.

A little while ago, I proposed an idea that would spark up some interest in what’s intended to be my next WIP, Serpent in a Cage. Already, I’ve done a post talking about the geography of the world that SiaC kicks off, but I had mentioned character interviews on the blog where readers can also ask questions and learn more about the story and the world of Aryneth through them. The response was pretty good; a lot of people seemed interested, so this Friday, we’re giving it a shot. We’re starting out with one of the three main characters of Serpent in a Cage, Locke Mandrake Battarack. But before we get to Locke, let me tell you a little bit about him.


Is Marc-André Grondin dark and broody and (most importantly) cheek-bony enough for Locke Mandrake Battarack? I think so! All he lacks is the piercing blue eyes….

So, if you’re a certain age, you’ve probably heard of the Battaracks. If you’re a little younger, maybe you haven’t. In some opinions, the Battaracks were the scourge of Kyano; others found them to be heroes like from the tales of old, marauders traversing the continent from one end to the other, fighting the battles that others would not. Through the years, though, the numbers of the nomadic tribe of warriors began to dwindle; they still remained a significant force, but no where near the legends they were since their inception in the Age of Legend. Always contending with the forces of Gynnocota, Kyano’s largest city-state, one fateful night, the armies of Gynnocota slipped into the nearby Battarack camp and completely massacred what little was left of their factions.

Well, almost completely.

Through a deft maneuver, Lady Serene Battarack was able to entrust her young infant son, Locke, to Knolan Rszbeki, her husband’s right-hand man. Knolan was able to steal into the night with the child safely, as well as with another, Gilferen Allok, whose dying mother requested the man take her son as well. With everyone they knew dead from the bloody massacre, Knolan struggled to bring up two boys in the wilderness and rebuild a life for himself and the all but destroyed Battaracks.

It wasn’t an easy life, but Locke and Gilferen grew up to be quick and resourceful young men, creating a much diminished group of marauders in the spirit of their deceased forefathers. They traveled Kyano, scavenging for jobs and heists, making a meager living for themselves. Now that Locke is a full grown man, though, he’s turning his attention to calling up the glory of the Battaracks of old, to move beyond being mere theives and mercenaries, and rebuilding an empire. It will be a difficult task, though, and, with the addition of a new member, a mysterious Analisian by the name of Jaxson Devoii, the Battaracks are just about to embark on a truly new experience: traveling to the desert continent of Kassir in the hopes to garner prestige in a whole new land. We caught up with Locke the day before their ship was to sail toward this exciting new journey.

Hello, Locke! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us a little. You must be incredibly busy for such a big trip!

L: (he smiles tightly) Busy’s one word for it, I guess. It’s not that we have a whole lot of stuff to pack, though. Most of it’s just the cargo that we’re transporting, and preparing ourselves for how different Kassir will be. I’m not looking forward to the heat. Or the insects. Or the jungles. Or any of it, really.

Yikes. Isn’t there anything you are looking forward to?

L: (he shrugs, avoiding my eyes) Not really. I mean, the whole thing is Jaxson’s idea; if I had the choice, I’d have never taken a job like this, but Knolan insists that it will be good for us. I’m the leader of this group, so what I say should be paramount, but he’s so insistent on it! I guess we can try it and when it doesn’t work, I can reinstate at least a little bit of authority. He acts as though I’m still a boy no bigger than his hip, and that Jaxson is just the thing we need to turn the Battaracks around. But we don’t need Jaxson. We need to be heading toward Gynnocota, figure a way to strike at them in a way that’ll shake this whole continent.

Revenge?

L: (he shrugs again) Something like that. All I know is that the Battaracks have been a part of Kyanese history for longer than most people can remember. What in Hadesari’s Realm are we going to do in Kassir, besides fry our brains and contract some torturous tropical disease? It’s insane, but Knolan, as usual, won’t listen. I guess I’ll have to wait for the stubborn old goat to see it with his own eyes.

Now I feel odd wishing you luck, but I do hope it goes well for you, whatever the outcome. You never know. You could surprise yourself and be very successful in Kassir.

L: I could. But I doubt it. I think that’s something someone like Jaxson will never understand. I don’t even think Knolan understands it, either. But I feel connected to Kassir; I have a history here that runs deep in my blood, and whenever I think about the fact that I’m leaving it, I start to feel it. Right here. (his hand covers his chest) It aches. I just have a bad feeling about this, but I’ll see it through. I’m nearly positive that it’s going to fail, and, when it does, I’ll return and things can get back to the way they were. It isn’t as though I haven’t suffered through mishaps before.

Like what? What would you say was the most challenging thing you’ve faced in your life so far?

L: (he snorts) You mean besides the rigors of every day life? Of trying to ensure that you have food and shelter every day, when you’ve gone so many days without? Every single day is a challenge, L, but that doesn’t stop me. (he chuckles, a bit suddenly) Besides that, I guess the biggest challenge would just be that I’ve got to do it with Gilferen. I love the man as if he was my own brother, but he doesn’t make things easy. Do you realize how many villages we’re not allowed in anymore because of him? I’m pretty sure we could repopulate the Battaracks entirely just by going around and collecting all the bastards he’s put into the bellies of innkeeper’s daughters and milkmaids…

Your words say one thing, Locke, but your grin says something else entirely. I’m pretty sure Gilferen’s not the only one who’s had his hand in those sorts of dalliances.

L: Pretty sure, but you’d be wrong. That’s more Gilferen’s thing; I have other things on my mind.

Surely, there’s had to have been a few beauties to turn your head through all your years of traveling…

L: Of course. I’m not blind. But I’m afraid I lack the fervor in which Gilferen seems possessed. It doesn’t really bother me. There was one girl… (he drifts off, shakes his head) It doesn’t matter, though. I’ve yet to meet anyone that I’ve felt so strongly about to bring her into the Battarack fold. Maybe I’m too picky. If Gilferen had a say in it, we’d have a regular traveling harem. (a pause) If you talk to him, do not mention that. We don’t need to be giving him ideas of what we should be bringing back with us from Kassir.

Don’t worry, I won’t. But I will open up the questions to everyone else, if you don’t mind. Locke, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you’ve got a lot to do before you sail off into the Great Sea, but our audience might have a few questions of their own.

L: (he shrugs) Sure. Go ahead…

And so I open the floor to you, Dear Readers, if you’d like to ask our guest Locke Mandrake Battarack anything at all about himself, his life, and his world*. Before we get into that, I do have a new subscriber to mention, too! Thanks for joining us, Justin Zamora Rodriguez! Good to have you here!

*(General comments, as well as questions that Locke will answer directly, are welcome, too!)

RoW80 Check-In: Microsoft Word Hates Me.

“Thankfully, Taluin had enough compassion and empathy to know what he meant without him having to say. ‘Oh, Locke,’ she said, her voice catching, breaking in her throat. ‘You were her world.’”

So, some of you may have been reading about my recent awesomeness revolution lately; some of you may not. In a nutshell, life is awesome right now, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into some epic progress on my Round of Words in 80 Days goals, and that’s okay. I’ve been making some steady page-a-day progress on Serpent in a Cage, and that has been most of my writing focus lately.

I’ve attempted to work on some short stories and typing up some of the first part of SiaC, but my computer has been acting a little…strange whenever I use Microsoft Word. I’ll get maybe half a page or so into typing, and some virus or some glitch in my computer is causing the Save As screen to pop up. I save frequently, so, at first, I thought I was just clicking it, but this is not the case. And then I go to save, and the window prompt keeps showing up, until I have to shut the program down entirely. It’s odd, it’s strange, it’s possibly something potentially harmful, but it’s an old, battered laptop, and that’s bound to happen eventually. Right now, I don’t want to deal with it, so I just do what I can and then call it a day when it pops up.

Nothing too exciting, then. I’m in the phase where it’s mostly just write, write, write, so I’m trying to use my time not at the notebook getting back into the blogging community and picking at a few short stories so I can start submitting to magazines again.

I would like to throw out a question, though: Anyone know of any good contests going on right now? Even if it’s just something to help prompt me…I know the contest Morgan Dragonwillow ran ages ago inspired a lot of really great new work from me. I’m looking for something like that to spark my creativity again, so if you can think of anything, please pass it along! I’d love to get back into something like that, but my focus is all skewed and I might need a little help.

How is everyone else doing? Have you had a chance to check in with any other RoWers (it’s real easy, you can just go here!). I’ve got the next three days off, so I’m really looking forward to a lot of Happy Writing!

Before I go, though, I’ve got a new follower to welcome to the blog. Hi, f-Stop fun! Thanks so much for subscribing!